Kelly Clarkson Talks ‘Duets’ + ‘Dark Side’

Kelly Clarkson is a busy gal. While she recently revealed that she loves the fact that her new management lets her have a life, it doesn’t mean she’s not working her butt off — the ‘American Idol’ alum has a new song about to hit radio, a new TV show and a new romance to balance. She dished to Billboard on what sets ‘Duets‘ apart from other musical competition shows and why she loves her new single, ‘Dark Side.’

‘Dark Side’ is set to hit radio tomorrow (May 21), and Clarkson is already slated to promote it in two big ways. “We’ve already shot a video and I’ll be doing it on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’” she revealed. Clarkson will also perform ‘Dark Side’ in a mashup with her hit ‘Stronger’ tonight (May 20) at the Billboard Music Awards.

Clarkson is super excited about ‘Duets,’ in part because she met a lot of actors and actresses at the ABC Upfronts. When Clarkson met the casts of ‘Once Upon a Time’ and ‘Modern Family,’ she gushed, “I had a complete 10-year-old moment! I acted like an idiot. I completely nerded out.”

How did she pick out her singers, Jordan Meredith and Jason Farol, for ‘Duets?’ I found them from video submissions — I wanted everybody to have equal opportunity,” she told Billboard. “They sound very different. What drew me to them was the raw talent factor and the tone. (Farol) has this old soul voice. She’s been one of the only ones to show versatility — she’s done country, blues and pop.” Sounds a lot like Kel!

Clarkson also revealed why she chose to do ‘Duets’ over the countless other shows she’s been offered. “ABC approached me at an awards show and they sold it to me as an awards show,” Clarkson said. “Basically the best parts (of awards shows) are collaborations, like performing with Jason Aldean on the Grammys. That doesn’t happen a lot. When Tim McGraw and Nelly did that song together and you’re like ‘whhaaaat?’ and somehow it worked,” she added. “I think those are the best parts of the shows and I love that they have based a whole show on that, the collaborative process.”

Clarkson’s penchant for live covers definitely influenced her song choices for the show. “I love doing songs by other people, especially when it has added meaning,” she said. “For this generation, ‘Jagged Little Pill’ was so relatable, and singing ‘Perfect’ or ‘Mary Jane’ (made sense for me). I love covering a song that means something to me, whether it’s a fun party song where you got drunk at a bar and were like ‘This would be great to sing’ or if it’s just a sweet moment like ‘Why’ by Annie Lennox,” she added. “I think it’s so awesome. We’ve made the songs their own, catered to them production wise.”

The first five episodes of ‘Duets’ have already been pre-taped. The competition will begin to go live on June 28 for the last four episodes. The winner will receive a record deal from Hollywood Records. Clarkson’s fellow coaches are Jennifer Nettles, Robin Thicke and the smack-talkingJohn Legend.

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